The present invention relates to a device for extending the life of a high/low beam vehicle headlight bulb, and more specifically to a removable light attenuator sleeve for a high/low beam vehicle headlight bulb.
Automobiles and other vehicles operate at night by the use of vehicle headlights. Most automobile headlights are equipped with low beam and high beam capabilities. Low beam is used for normal night driving conditions and high beam is used for particularly dark roads. Currently, the high/low beam function is provided for in two ways. The first is by a dual light bulb unit in which high beam and low beam filaments are housed in separate self-contained reflector housings. The second is a high/low beam halogen bulb.
The high/low beam halogen bulb is a smaller, yet higher performance device which is easily mounted into a reflector housing in an automobile. The bulb contains a low beam filament and a high beam filament, and typically costs more to replace than the dual light bulb unit. The low beam filament in the halogen bulb is used much more frequently than the high beam filament. As a result, the low beam filament burns out long before the high beam filament. Accordingly, because it is illegal to operate a vehicle with only high beam headlights, the halogen bulb must be replaced with a new bulb to obtain low beam performance. Therefore, the halogen bulb must be disposed of while there is still useful life left, albeit only in the high beam filament.
The present invention is directed to a device which fits over a high/low beam bulb and obviates the need to dispose of the high/low beam halogen bulb when the low beam filament is burned out.
Examples of headlight filter devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,563,552; 1,880,893; 2,260,473; 2,945,985; and 4,538,213. The devices disclosed in these patents are designed to alter the color of the light beam to optimize vision in fog conditions, and are primarily related to filter devices which attach over the transparent plastic housing of the vehicle headlight, thus being exposed on the exterior of the vehicle.